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Create Command Guide

Use modern-graphics create when you want one command path with clarity-first defaults.

Use This Doc When

  • You want to call the CLI directly (README goal 5).
  • You already know the message shape and need the right --layout.
  • You want to control export behavior without moving to advanced APIs.

If you only need a first successful output, start with Quick Start Guide. If you need super custom hero composition, use Hero Slides Guide. If you want copy/paste runnable examples by outcome, use examples/README.md.

Mental Model

create is split into three argument groups:

  1. core
  • --layout
  • --output
  • --title
  • --theme
  1. layout-specific
  • content inputs that depend on --layout (for example --headline, --left/--right, --events)
  1. expert
  • density and export controls (--density, --png, --export-preset, --crop-mode, --padding-mode)

Defaults

  • density: clarity
  • theme: corporate
  • crop mode: safe
  • padding mode: minimal

For full PNG/export behavior details, see docs/EXPORT.md. For legacy command migration, see docs/MIGRATION.md.

Layout Decision Table

If you need... Use layout Required inputs
Hero opener hero --headline
Pull quote / key insight insight or key-insight --text
Insight + visual panel insight-card --text (optional --svg-file)
Before/after insight narrative insight-story --headline + --insight-text (optional --before-svg, --after-svg)
Side-by-side tradeoff comparison --left + --right
Narrative story block story optional --what-changed, --time-period, --what-it-means
Chronology timeline --events
Stage conversion funnel --stages (optional --values)
Numbered concept grid grid --items
Mathematical expression equation --equation (optional --eq-label, --footnote, --eq-size)
Legacy transformation layout before-after (CLI command) --before + --after (currently blocked by stub)
Multi-card transformation strip slide-cards (CLI command) --cards JSON
Card-vs-card comparison slide-compare (CLI command) --left JSON + --right JSON
Stacked hero/detail card premium-card (CLI command) --config JSON

Fast Recipes

Hero

modern-graphics create \
  --layout hero \
  --headline "Execution scales. Judgment does not." \
  --output ./output/hero.html

Comparison

modern-graphics create \
  --layout comparison \
  --left "Before:Manual triage:Slow" \
  --right "After:Agentic triage:Faster" \
  --output ./output/comparison.html

Insight Card

modern-graphics create \
  --layout insight-card \
  --text "One-page artifacts force explicit decisions." \
  --output ./output/insight-card.html

PNG Export (Expert)

modern-graphics create \
  --layout insight-story \
  --headline "When shipping gets easy, choosing gets hard." \
  --insight-text "Use a short checklist before shipping." \
  --png \
  --crop-mode safe \
  --padding-mode minimal \
  --output ./output/insight-story.png

Social Presets

Use fixed channel presets when you need share-ready dimensions:

modern-graphics create \
  --layout hero \
  --headline "Execution scales. Judgment does not." \
  --png \
  --export-preset linkedin \
  --output ./output/hero-linkedin.png

Available presets:

  • linkedin (1200x627)
  • x (1600x900)
  • substack-hero (1400x700)

Tracked social preset examples: examples/output/showcase/create-first/.

CLI-Only Layouts (Outside create)

These layouts are currently available as dedicated commands instead of create layouts.

Before/After

modern-graphics before-after \
  --title "Support Workflow Shift" \
  --before "Manual triage,Long queues,Status uncertainty" \
  --after "Inline help,Faster routing,Visible status" \
  --png \
  --output ./output/before-after.png

Note: before-after is currently wired to a stub implementation and raises NotImplementedError.

Slide Cards

modern-graphics slide-cards \
  --title "Execution Shift" \
  --cards '[{"title":"Prompting","tagline":"Step 1","subtext":"Generate options"},{"title":"Constrainting","tagline":"Step 2","subtext":"Set boundaries"},{"title":"Decision gates","tagline":"Step 3","subtext":"Filter what ships"}]' \
  --png \
  --output ./output/slide-cards.png

Slide Compare

modern-graphics slide-compare \
  --title "Operating Modes" \
  --left '{"title":"Motion","tagline":"Ship more","subtext":"High output, noisy relevance"}' \
  --right '{"title":"Judgment","tagline":"Ship fewer","subtext":"Lower volume, higher signal"}' \
  --png \
  --output ./output/slide-compare.png

Premium Card

modern-graphics premium-card \
  --title "Ops Guardrail Premium Card" \
  --config examples/ops_guardrail_premium_card.json \
  --png \
  --output ./output/premium-card.png

Tracked Slice 2 examples: examples/output/showcase/cli-layouts/.

Error Hints

If required inputs are missing, create returns:

  • a direct error message
  • a layout-specific Hint: try ... command

This is intentional to keep first-time usage recoverable without reading source code.

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